Exopolysaccharide production by four cyanobacterial isolates and preliminary identification of these isolates

Four marine cyanobacterial isolates, named 104, 109, 113 and 115, from marine water off China’s coast can release a large amount of exopolysaccharide (EPS) to medium. The effects of different components in medium on EPS production by the four isolates were investigated. Under the optimal condition, the EPS released by isolates 104, 109, 113 and 115 reached 7.48 gL⁻¹, 8.33 gL⁻¹, 18.26 gL⁻¹, and 6.78 gL⁻¹ within 14 d, respectively. Based on the conventional identification methods for cyanobacteria, these isolates were assigned to genus Cyanothece.